Remnants of Twilight
by LightzMusic22
Summary: Sora and Riku have fought Xemnas and saved the worlds, but the clash leaves Sora weakened and he falls into a deep coma. To save Sora, Riku may have to make the ultimate sacrifice; a sacrifice he isn't sure he could make. Who would he choose? A girl he can barely remember, but has deep feelings for, or someone who has been there from the start? FanFic of a Fanfic, more info inside!


_**Summary: **_Their battle raged for days. Xemnas was powerful, but Sora and Riku defeated him. Barely. Weakened from the clash, Sora falls into a deep coma, leaving Riku to search desperately for a cure. He must make a sacrifice. A sacrifice he isn't sure he can make. Who is more important to him? A girl he loves and barely remembers or the one who has always been there for him?

_**Fanfiction of **__**Nexanda77's 'Finding the Light'**_

_***Thank you **__**Wildcard999 for helping me with summary***_

_**PLEASE READ**_

A/N: I have not died! I read Nexanda77's 'Finding the Light', and I had a great idea on what WOULD of happened to wake Sora up. So, I asked if I would write an alternate ending for it, and she was like, 'Wow, sure!' Just a notice, the beginning of the chapter is from the 5th chapter, 'Home' so you can understand what's going on roughly.

Another notice, Sora was hurt by Xemnas, and he made Aros (Anti-Sora) be able to dominate over Sora's heart in the original. In this one, let's just say a few people got out of somewhere, and the only way to bring him back from his comatose state is for someone to sacrifice themselves. Yeah, that's good.

Also, I have no clue if heartless is capitalized or not, so…

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Square Enix, Kingdom Hearts, only a part of this story's plotline.**_

_Remnants of Twilight_

_By: MoonLitSparklesofTwilight_

_Riku's POV_

Riku opened his eyes finding himself tumbling under water. Confused he righted himself and followed his natural buoyancy upwards. As he broke the surface, he sucked in a deep breath of warm air. He wiped his hands across his face, parting his too long bangs that had plastered themselves over his eyes. Now he was able to look around and was shocked when he saw that the Realm of Darkness was gone replaced by his home, his island.

"Riku!" The shout was faint but he turned to see Kairi waving frantically at him from the beach.

"Kairi!" He shouted back happily. "Sora! Look, its Kairi! We did it! We're home!" He said this turning around and scanning the empty ocean. His heart stopped in his chest as he remembered the final moments on the Dark Margin. The light had surrounded them both, but Sora had been unconscious and that meant there was only one place he could be.

Riku dove back underwater swimming down as fast as he could ignoring the searing pain left from Xemnas' attack. He forced his eyes to stay open even though the salt water stung. Luckily the water was clear and in less than ten seconds he spotted Sora resting on the sandy ocean floor. Bubbles trickled out of his mouth escaping up to the surface. That means there is still air in his lungs he hasn't drowned yet. Riku told himself trying to keep his worst fears at bay as he grabbed Sora around the middle and began to haul him to the surface. With Sora's dead weight, Riku struggled to ascend, but he was not about to let Sora die down there. So with a burst of energy, he broke the surface gasping once more and leaning back so Sora's head was also out of the water.

Wasting no time, he shifted his hold on Sora and began to swim clumsily towards the far off shore. Kairi was still standing there, but she had been joined by a crowd. He identified King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, but there were others he didn't recognize. There were four men and three girls. Two of the men, one with long brown hair the other with spiked blond hair, threw off their jackets, kicked off their shoes, and dove into the water swimming in his direction. Riku did his best to keep swimming, but he was exhausted and his side was on fire. He wasn't getting anywhere. He slowed to a stop and focused his attention on Sora while he waited for the two men to reach them. Sora's head was on his shoulder and as far as Riku could tell he was breathing just fine after nearly drowning. "Sora...can you hear me?" Riku said shaking his friend slightly. "C'mon Sora...wake up." Sora gave no response remaining just as limp as before.

"Riku!" He looked up hearing his name. It was the brunette man who had called him. He and the blond man came up right next to him. "What happened? What's wrong with Sora?"

"I don't know! The door to light...Sora...bottom of the ocean..." Riku can't think straight and the words just tumble out.

The two men exchanged a look unable to keep their fear of their face. The blond man tried to pull Sora away from Riku but he resisted. He didn't know these men and right now the only that he could keep straight in his pain addled mind was that he must keep Sora safe. "I'm not going to hurt him Riku," the blond man said in a slightly ticked off voice. Riku looked deep in the man's blue eyes and could tell that he was being truthful so he reluctantly let him take Sora. He swam back towards shore with Sora much faster than Riku would have been able to in his condition.

Riku, no longer having to stay strong for Sora, felt his strength slip away as he gave in to his own injuries. He sunk a little lower in the water and his eyelids drooped. "Whoa, Riku! Are you alright?" The brunette man asked grabbing him under his arm. Before Riku could reply a grimace answered for him as another fresh stab of pain shot through his side. Without another word, the man began to swim slowly pulling Riku along with him. "The name's Leon by the way," Riku glanced briefly him.

"Sora...Sora told me about you...about Radiant Garden," Riku forced out.

"He did, didn't he?" Leon mused, "Well I guess that saves time on introductions."

"Why are you...here?"

"King Mickey contacted the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee after finding out that you and Sora hadn't made it out of The World That Never Was," Leon said. "He wanted to meet with us and get our help in searching for you two, but Kairi wouldn't leave the islands so we came to them."

They reached water shallow enough to stand in and Leon straightened up pulling Riku to his feet as well. "Can you walk?" Leon asked Riku. Riku shook his head tiredly. "Cloud!" Leon shouted to the group on shore clustered around a prone figure on the sand. Sora. The blond man looked up and hurried over. Cloud slipped his arm under Riku's on his hurt side and Riku grunted in pain as they led him out of the water. On the beach, they stumbled up to where the others were and carefully lied him down in the sand. Riku closed his eyes letting himself slip away to escape the pain.

"Riku?" Kairi's shaky voice drew him back and he opened his eyes to see her leaning over him her lip was quivering and he knew she was trying not to cry.

"Kairi," Riku said with a sigh. She gave him a sad smile and squeezed his hand.

"Riku!" Mickey's high pitched voice caused Riku to turn his head. His concerned friend was kneeling next to him. He placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

"Xemnas...he...he wasn't dead." Suddenly his side seared in pain and he cried out closing his eyes tight once more.

"What did you do?" Kairi said accusingly. Riku opened his eyes to see her anger directed at a young woman in a long pink dress who had knelt down next to Kairi.

The woman replied in a calm voice looking at him not Kairi, "I'm sorry Riku I need to see what I'm dealing with." The woman began again to pull up his ripped and blood stained shirt revealing a line about a foot long and an inch wide. It was the burn from Xemnas' ethereal blade. The rest of his side was covered in a dark purple bruise. The woman gently touched his side and he gasped in pain.

"Stop it Aerith! You're hurting him!" Kairi exclaimed.

The woman named Aerith ignored her however and murmured a curing spell. As the green light fell on him, Riku let out a sigh of relief as the pain on his side simmered down to an ache and he could feel all his other smaller injuries heal as well. When the green light faded, Riku was able to sit up holding his side. His mind was clearer without the distraction of pain and he turned his head in the direction of the others who were still clustered around Sora. As he tried to stand Aerith put her hands on his shoulders preventing him from getting up. "Not so fast Riku. The curing spell healed most of your physical injuries but it didn't give you your energy back. Just rest for now."

"What about Sora? Did you heal him?" He asked.

Sadly she shook her head so ignoring her protests he got to his feet and stumbled over to the crowd around Sora. Riku pushed his way between Leon and a girl with brown hair dressed entirely in black to see Sora lying on the sand as still as before with an old man in a blue robe crouched next to him. "Sora!" Riku shouted falling to his knees next to his best friend. Sora gave no response. Riku turned to the man in the blue robe. "What's wrong with him? Why can't you heal him?"

***It changes here***

Aerith placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking her head sadly and shooting a glance at Sora. "Riku… I honestly don't know." He glanced up at her, tears in his eyes, but forced them back. Sora had to lie… he promised nothing happened, he said he didn't get too hurt, but look what Xemnas did to him. _"__I'm fine. I swear! It barely touched me!" _He kicked the ground hard, sand flying over the area. Cloud and Leon gave him a look of sympathy, which was easily dismissed with a death glare from the teen. Riku got up, sighing in distress while running his hands through his hair in an attempt to clear his mind. Everything that has happened, it had to come down to this. Sora being comatose and everything going dark once again, welcome to his life. He glanced over the horizon, and barely made out a figure walking down the beach trying to be stealth.

"One second." He said to everyone, running after the unknown figure. They turned around, the black hood covering their head, and sprinted off. But they couldn't get far before Riku grabbed the wrist of it. The hood fell off, showing a girl with short black hair that falls to her shoulders. He could have sworn he saw the girl before, but couldn't put his tongue on it. "Who are you?" He demanded towards the girl.

"Someone from the dark…" She confirmed, turning around to look straight at him.

"You would know that, right, Riku?" after that, she smirked, turning around and walking away. He was left stunned to his position, glancing at the retreating figure. She said exactly what he said, and on top of that, she knew his name. How could she? Everything started going sluggish in his mind, struggling to figure out why she was so familiar in his eyes. Gasps from behind him is what dragged him from his train of thought. Turning around, everyone was looking at a figure in the sand, obviously unconscious. Running over, Riku slowly turned over the boy, and it was no other then the person he hunted down a few months ago. Roxas.

Slowly but surely, the boy started stirring, groaning and opening his eyes to see Aerith and Cloud hovering over him.

"Where am I?" He choked out, which turned into a coughing fit. Once it died down, Roxas observed everyone. Soon, some of Sora's memories flooded his own, and the mysterious faces became clear. But when he turned to Riku, his confused face turned into a scowl.

"Great, _you _have to be here…" Roxas muttered, making Riku visibly flinch. The sound of Roxas' voice sounded hurt, confused, full of hate, and was that… sorrow? And he swore if looks could kill, he would be dead ten times-fold. Everyone else seemed oblivious to what previously happened with the two teens, backing off. They knew it wasn't their place to interfere.

"Look, Roxas-"

"Shut up. You ruined _everything _for me_. _Why in the world should I even give you the time of day?" He yelled, before getting up and storming off into the island. To be honest, Riku couldn't blame him. If he was told everything was a lie, and then placed into a fake world, he would grow hateful of the person who brought him there also. Aerith stared at him, an obvious look of confusion in her eyes.

"Roxas is Sora's nobody. Lets' just say, we're not exactly on the 'best friend' level." Riku stated towards everyone around him. They nodded in understanding, sending a quick glance to the retreating figure. Cloud turned to Riku, clamping a hand on the boys' shoulder.

"He'll come around." Cloud reassured, ushering him go and talk to the angered nobody. Sighing in utter defeat, he got up and walked over into the islands. Sighing in frustration at the whole situation, he started looking around the beach for the blonde. Eventually, he just growled, stomping his foot in anger.

"I have to think like Sora. He has Sora's memories, so he should know some place I would never look…" That's when it smacked him in the face. Literally. Blinking a few times and putting his hand out, he pushed a vine away, noticing he was right in front of the Secret Place. 'Of course…' he thought to himself, mentally face palming. Walking inside, (a little grumpy that the opening was really small and he kept getting hit in the head half of the way by rocks) he spotted Roxas in the far corner of the cave… crying? Riku was very shocked at the sight, eye widening before softening at the sight. Walking over to Roxas, who was currently in a ball like position, (knees in his chest, head resting on his knees) he pulled the blonde into a comforting hug. What surprised him was when the nobody buried his head in the other's neck, sobbing as he clung to Riku's shoulders as if letting go would kill him.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you Roxas… no one should have to go through that…" He told him, though Roxas just continued to sob, letting all of his emotions that he used to hold back out. When he eventually calmed down, he glanced to Roxas to see he fell asleep from exhaustion. With a small smile plastered on his face, he put one arm under his shoulders, the other under his legs, and picked him up bridal shower. Walking out and back to the beach, everyone looked up and noticed he was passed out.

"The kid passed out crying." Riku answered, voicing everyone's question and apparently answer. Soon, they heard a squeak, before someone was on his back. Groaning, he fell on his knees by the weight.

"Oops!" An unfamiliar voice spoke in worry, jumping off. Soon, his eye's met with emerald green, both of their eyes rivaling the others. "Ku!" She girl squealed, before looking down to see him carrying the boy. Everyone was looking at the three in bewilderment and astonishment at the situation. Trying to figure out the situation, King Mickey strolled over to them, blinking a few times at the new girl. She noticed his gaze, before grinning and squealing again. Before the poor king noticed, she had him in a death hug, swinging him around.

"Oh! You're so cute, aren't you?!" She chirped, giggling before letting him down gently. "Whoa!" the King yelled, holding his head from the dizziness.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Rose, a friend of Riku's from the main island." She said with a genuine smile. Said friends expression went from confusion to shock in but a few seconds... Rose was very different then what she used to look like in the past. Her bulky glasses were replaced with clear contacts, as well as her overly-long hair being cut to a little above her shoulders. Her clothes changed from a baggy shirt and jeans to a graphic t-shirt that said, 'Join the nerdy side, we have pie' with a black leather jacket over it. Her jeans changed to a black slightly poofy skirt going mid-thigh with pink outlining and combat boots. She also wore leather fingerless gloves to add to her outfit. All in all, she was a totally different person. Suddenly, a snap in the front of his face drew him from his thoughts.

"Dude, staring isn't nice!"

He chuckled, before he heard a groan. Looking down, Roxas opened his eyes, blinking and adjusting to the bright sun of Destiny Island. He sat up, standing and giving a hand to Riku, who gratefully took it and stood up as well. Roxas rubbed his hands through his hair, sighing. The moment of silence didn't last long before you could hear Kairi sobbing near Sora. Roxas walked over, looking at his Others face.

"He should be here, not me…" He spoke softly with a sigh, closing his eyes in stress. Riku walked over, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Roxas sniffled, wiping a few tear from his eyes before turning to Riku with a grateful smile.

"How did you even get out?" Kairi asked, mostly composed for the moment. Roxas shrugged, sighing again. He seemed to do that a lot. I'll ask him later. "I was forced out; I have no clue as to why or how." He told her, looking at everyone in obvious confusion. Rose seemed to join in with them all, shaking her head and turning to Riku.

"Ok, what's going on, guys?" She asked, confused. Roxas sighed, shaking his head. Here goes the hard part, explaining to her about other worlds and the heartless. Not like things weren't complicated enough, right? Wrong.

"Do you believe in other worlds, Rose?" Riku asked, filling in the awkward silence. She turned to look at him with her eyebrow raised. She then shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, you used to talk about going to visit other worlds with Kairi and Sora, right? That's why you made the raft?" She questioned the two other teens, both nodding. Roxas then continued.

"They are other worlds. Every star in the sky is one." He spoke slowly to her, worried about her reaction. But strangely, she just lit up like a Christmas tree at midnight. _Wow, poetic are we, Riku? _He spoke to himself with an inward face-palm.

"That's so cool… I want to see them!" She exclaimed in enthusiasm, turning to everyone from the Restoration Committee. "You're from another world also, aren't you?" Rose inquired, grinning. Aerith responded with a simple nod, while the rest of them just shrugged. The raven-haired girl just chuckled, grinning at them.

"I like you guys!" She chirped with excitement and enthusiasm once again. Both Riku and Roxas face-palmed, sighing. This is going to be a _long _day…

_**(I am a line break, respect me!)**_

Ok, this is the LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN! -pops party poppers- yay! Ok, this was my secret project I was talking about on my profile, so... thanks for being you I guess...? Your reviews is what fuels me to write more!

Speaking of reviews, I have decided to work on Keyblade Games again! It was more of a test thing to see if people liked it, and I got 2 reviews saying to continue so... I will! Eventually. After I finish this. Yeah. Also, thank you Nexanda77 for letting me write a alternate ending for your story!

_Important: This is NOT canon to her story! This is my interpretation on what would happen!_

Check out her story, The Dark Seeker Saga: MEKA! It's so great that I'm going fangirl and ranting cause of what happens. Ok, long A/N end!

Review, cause they make me update faster. :o


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